25 Pakistani Fishermen Return Home After Release From Indian Jails

LAHORE: Twenty-five Pakistani fishermen returned to the country on Saturday after being released from prisons in India, crossing the Wagah-Attari border and completing the required immigration and administrative procedures. The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi said its officials helped facilitate the repatriation and remained present during the handover to Pakistani authorities.

The returning fishermen were brought across the border in the afternoon and transferred into Pakistani custody. The Fishermen’s Cooperative Society said the men were residents of Karachi and Thatta, two areas whose fishing communities have repeatedly been affected by maritime arrests involving Pakistan and India. A society representative said the group was handed over to Punjab Rangers after entering Pakistan.

Pakistan’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi said the government would continue pursuing the release and return of Pakistani nationals still detained in Indian prisons. The Fishermen’s Cooperative Society also welcomed the development and expressed hope that the released men would now be able to reunite with their families and resume their lives after imprisonment.

The repatriation comes amid renewed appeals from organisations working on prisoner and fishermen issues in both countries. Earlier in August, the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy, the National Fishworkers Forum in India, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and families of detained fishermen jointly urged Islamabad and New Delhi to release prisoners who had completed their sentences and whose nationalities had already been verified. The groups called for humanitarian considerations to be prioritised despite continuing political tensions between the neighbours.

The issue is also linked to the formal prisoner-list mechanism maintained by Pakistan and India under the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access. Under that arrangement, both governments exchange lists of prisoners held in their respective countries twice each year, on January 1 and July 1. Pakistan used the latest exchange in July to call for the repatriation of 97 Pakistani prisoners who had completed their sentences, including 33 fishermen, according to the Foreign Office.

Fishermen are particularly vulnerable to detention because maritime boundaries in the Arabian Sea can be difficult to identify while at sea, especially for crews operating small boats with limited navigation equipment. Arrests can lead to lengthy periods in custody, and in some cases prisoners remain detained even after completing their sentences while nationality verification, consular procedures and repatriation arrangements are finalised. Before Saturday’s return, available figures cited in reports showed 53 Pakistani fishermen held in India and 198 Indian fishermen imprisoned in Pakistan.

Saturday’s handover provides immediate relief to the families of the 25 returning fishermen while again highlighting the wider unresolved prisoner issue between Pakistan and India. Islamabad is expected to continue diplomatic and consular efforts for remaining Pakistani detainees, particularly those whose sentences have ended and whose citizenship has been confirmed. Further releases will depend on coordination between the two governments through diplomatic channels and the established consular-access framework.